Chapelle Kimberley E J, Griffin Christopher T, Pol Diego
Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University , Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein , Johannesburg, South Africa.
Biol Lett. 2025 Jan;21(1):20240474. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0474. Epub 2025 Jan 15.
Since the start of the twenty-first century, there has been a notable increase in annual publications focusing on dinosaur reproduction and ontogeny with researchers using these data to address a range of macroevolutionary questions about dinosaurs. Ontogeny, which is closely tied to osteological morphological variation, impacts several key research areas, such as taxonomic diversity, population dynamics, palaeoecology, macroevolution, as well as the physiological and reproductive factors driving ecological success. While these broad studies have significantly advanced our understanding of dinosaur evolution, they have also revealed important challenges and areas needing further investigation. In this review, we aim to outline some of these challenges in major research areas linked to dinosaur ontogeny, namely reproductive biology, osteohistological growth strategies, morphological osteological variation and the link between ontogeny and macroevolution. We also offer some recommendations for best practices and promising future research directions. These recommendations include increasing sample sizes through fieldwork and exhaustive use of pre-existing fossil collections, using micro-computed tomography (μCT) scanning methods to increase dataset sizes in a non-destructive manner, methodical collection and reposition of μCT scan data, assessing ontogenetic maturity, establishing consistency in terminology and methods and building comprehensive extant comparative datasets.
自21世纪初以来，关注恐龙繁殖与个体发育的年度出版物显著增加，研究人员利用这些数据来探讨一系列有关恐龙的宏观进化问题。个体发育与骨骼形态变化密切相关，影响着几个关键研究领域，如分类多样性、种群动态、古生态学、宏观进化，以及推动生态成功的生理和生殖因素。虽然这些广泛的研究极大地增进了我们对恐龙进化的理解，但它们也揭示了重要的挑战和需要进一步研究的领域。在本综述中，我们旨在概述与恐龙个体发育相关的主要研究领域中的一些挑战，即生殖生物学、骨组织学生长策略、形态骨骼变异以及个体发育与宏观进化之间的联系。我们还为最佳实践和有前景的未来研究方向提供了一些建议。这些建议包括通过实地考察增加样本量并充分利用现有的化石收藏，使用微计算机断层扫描（μCT）扫描方法以无损方式增加数据集规模，系统地收集和重新定位μCT扫描数据，评估个体发育成熟度，在术语和方法上建立一致性，以及构建全面的现存比较数据集。
